Editing Vikings (section)

====Runic alphabet usage in modern times====
The last known people to use the [[Runic alphabet]] were an isolated group of people known as the Elfdalians, that lived in the locality of [[Älvdalen]] in the Swedish province of [[Dalarna]]. They spoke the language of [[Elfdalian]], the language unique to [[Älvdalen]]. The Elfdalian language differentiates itself from the other Scandinavian languages as it evolved much closer to Old Norse. The people of [[Älvdalen]] stopped using runes as late as the 1920s. Usage of runes therefore survived longer in [[Älvdalen]] than anywhere else in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sciencenordic.com/language-linguistics-runes/isolated-people-in-sweden-only-stopped-using-runes-100-years-ago/1418110|title=Isolated people in Sweden only stopped using runes 100 years ago|first=Lise|last=Brix|date=21 May 2015|website=sciencenordic.com|access-date=8 June 2020|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523111457/https://sciencenordic.com/language-linguistics-runes/isolated-people-in-sweden-only-stopped-using-runes-100-years-ago/1418110|url-status=live}}</ref> The last known record of the Elfdalian Runes is from 1929; they are a variant of the [[Dalecarlian runes]], runic inscriptions that were also found in [[Dalarna]].

Traditionally regarded as a [[Swedish language|Swedish]] dialect,<ref name="Stickel2010">{{cite book |last=Ekberg |first=Lena |editor=Gerhard Stickel |title=National, Regional and Minority Languages in Europe: Contributions to the Annual Conference 2009 of Efnil in Dublin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFYa2ooeVXgC&pg=PA90 |access-date=6 March 2013 |year=2010 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=9783631603659 |pages=87–92 |chapter=The National Minority Languages in Sweden }}</ref> but by several criteria closer related to West Scandinavian dialects,<ref name=Kroonen>{{cite web|last1=Kroonen|first1=Guus|title=On the origins of the Elfdalian nasal vowels from the perspective of diachronic dialectology and Germanic etymology|url=http://inss.ku.dk/ansatte/?pure=files/35220983/elfdalian.pdf|website=Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics|date=8 August 2007 |publisher=University of Copenhagen|access-date=27 January 2016|quote=In many aspects, Elfdalian, takes up a middle position between East and West Nordic. However, it shares some innovations with West Nordic, but none with East Nordic. This invalidates the claim that Elfdalian split off from Old Swedish|archive-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206012822/http://inss.ku.dk/ansatte/?pure=files/35220983/elfdalian.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Elfdalian is a separate language by the standard of [[mutual intelligibility]].<ref name="Aftonbladet2007">{{cite news |author-last1=Dahl |author-first1=Östen |author-last2=Dahlberg |author-first2=Ingrid |author-last3=Delsing |author-first3=Lars-Olof |author-last4=Halvarsson |author-first4=Herbert |author-last5=Larsson |author-first5=Gösta |author-last6=Nyström |author-first6=Gunnar |author-last7=Olsson |author-first7=Rut |author-last8=Sapir |author-first8=Yair |author-last9=Steensland |author-first9=Lars |author-last10=Williams |author-first10=Henrik |title=Älvdalskan är ett språk – inte en svensk dialekt |date=8 February 2007 |language=sv |work=Aftonbladet |location=Stockholm |trans-title=Elfdalian is a language – not a Swedish dialect |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/article11053696.ab |access-date=7 March 2013 |archive-date=25 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825120038/http://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/article11053696.ab |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dahl |first=Östen |title=Älvdalska – eget språk eller värsting bland dialekter? |date=December 2008 |language=sv |work=Språktidningen |trans-title=Elfdalian – its own language or an outstanding dialect? |url=http://spraktidningen.se/artiklar/2008/11/alvdalska-eget-sprak-eller-varsting-bland-dialekter |access-date=16 May 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207110314/http://spraktidningen.se/artiklar/2008/11/alvdalska-eget-sprak-eller-varsting-bland-dialekter |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Zach |first=Kristine |year=2013 |title=Das Älvdalische – Sprache oder Dialekt? (Diplomarbeit) |trans-title=Elfdalian – Language or dialect? (Masters thesis) |publisher=[[University of Vienna]] |url=http://othes.univie.ac.at/26671/1/2013-02-27_0748117.pdf |language=de |access-date=25 April 2020 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217105905/http://othes.univie.ac.at/26671/1/2013-02-27_0748117.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Although there is no mutual intelligibility, due to schools and public administration in Älvdalen being conducted in Swedish, native speakers are bilingual and speak Swedish at a native level. Residents in the area who speak only Swedish as their sole native language, neither speaking nor understanding Elfdalian, are also common. [[Älvdalen]] can be said to have had its own alphabet during the 17th and 18th century. Today there are about 2,000–3,000 native speakers of Elfdalian.